The High Court has set free four Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) nurses charged with the murder of a patient back in 2015.
Issuing the judgment, Lady Justice Kavedza Diana Rachel noted that the prosecution team failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the four nurses, Priscilla Wairimu Njeru, Godfrey Murithi Gachora, Rosemary Nkonge, and Mary Muthoni Kamau, were involved in the murder.
The four staff members were charged with the murder of Cosmas Mutunga Kenyatta, a patient who had been admitted to the hospital’s ward 8C.
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According to the prosecution, the incident happened on the night of 28th and 29th November 2015.
A total of 18 witnesses were called to testify, including family members and hospital staff, as well as security personnel.
On 28th November, family members who visited the patient confirmed that he was alert and could communicate, only for him to be found unresponsive and with injuries the following day.
An investigation into the incident was launched, where a blood-stained metal bar was recovered with blood found on the bed and its environs.
Autopsy results confirmed that the blood sample collected matched that of the patient, but could not link any of the suspects to the incident.
In their defense, the four nurses confirmed to have performed routine checks around the hospital but were not involved in any way in the murder, saying that they were not even related to the deceased.
Lady Justice Kavedza Diana Rachel told the court that the case had four major gaps and that the investigations could not place the four at the scene of the crime.
“While the death of the deceased was violent and tragic, the evidence does not irresistibly point to the accused persons as the perpetrators,” she said
